Both leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines have voiced their strong support for the Vietnamese and Philippines governments’ common stance towards settling East Sea disputes peacefully in line with international law, especially the 1982 UNCLOS.

While separately receiving Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Manila on May 22, House Speaker Feliciano J. Belmonte and Senate President Franklin Drilon all said China, as a signatory to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), must abide by the document to ensure peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea.

Recent tensions in the East Sea were high on the agenda of their meetings after China unilaterally placed its drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 deep inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, provoking public outrage.

Speaker Belmonte said Philippines lawmakers of Chinese origin expressed their indignation at China’s action and raised deep concern about the current dangerous situation in the East Sea.

He recalled the May 21 statement by Philippines President Benigno Aquino and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in which both sides strongly protested against and called on the international community, ASEAN and other countries, to press China to immediately stop aggressive actions, fully observe international law, and soon work on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

Belmonte said China seriously violated international law when it used force to take control of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago and recently positioned its drilling rig in Vietnam’s territorial waters illegally.

He presented the Philippines’ experience in settling similar disputes with China, and warned without solidarity, other regional countries would fall victim to China’s East Sea expansion scheme reflected through its illegal “nine-dash line” map.

The speaker also welcomed the establishment of a joint working committee between the Philippines and Vietnam, hoping the new organisation will help work out a roadmap for building a strategic partnership between the two countries.

For his part, PM Dung appreciated the House’s stance and stressed that China’s recent move seriously violates sovereignty in the East Sea and threatens peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in the region.

Vietnam has asked China to immediately withdraw its oil rig and escort flotilla from its waters and it will consider self-defence options, including legal actions, according to international law, to defend its sovereignty.

He echoed the Speaker’s view, saying that ASEAN should issue a joint statement on the issue, and that the international community should strongly oppose China’s violation.

Regarding bilateral relations, Dung assured his host that Vietnam will work closely together with the Philippines to bring bilateral relations to a new level.

He conveyed Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung’s invitation to Speaker Belmonte to visit Vietnam, and the invitation was accepted with pleasure.

At another meeting with PM Dung, President Drilon said he and the Senate support the two governments’ common principle of demanding China to fully abide by international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, and settling disputes through peaceful means.

He acknowledged the two governments’ efforts in strengthening bilateral cooperation in all areas, especially in politics, diplomacy, economics, trade and investment, to elevate bilateral relations to new heights.

He said he has accepted Chairman Hung’s invitation to visit Vietnam and attend the 132nd General Assembly of the Inter-parliamentary Union (IPU) in Hanoi in 2015.